Carsch House will once again become a luxury department store

The future majority owner of Galeria Kaufhof, René Benko, plans to make it the fourth branch of the KaDeWe group. The KaDeWe of Berlin, the Hamburger Alsterhaus and the Oberpollinger of Munich belong to him so far. Kaufhof said Monday does not comment on media speculation.

The chain of outlets belongs to the current shareholder of Kaufhof, the Hudson's Bay Company of Canada (HBC). Shortly after the opening of the Düsseldorf branch, rumors that the company would have been less well received than expected. According to the "Manager Magazine", Benko wants to close the entire chain. During the acquisition of Kaufhof, Benko, Signa of HBC, took over the sole property of Carsch, the report says.

This would pave the way for the new use, which follows the tradition of the building: the retailer Paul Carsch built the department store in 1915 for noble menswear. The name has become a household name, even though the National Socialists have pushed the Jewish entrepreneur out of business and decided to rename it "Fashion House of the West".

Later, the house belonged to the Horten department store, then to the purchase of Kaufhof acquisitions. Both companies have used the flagship address at the top of Flinger Straße to create a sophisticated range. For the construction of the subway, the house was demolished and rebuilt in 1984. Since then, there is the underground part, still operated under the name "Kaufhof-Galeria", which connects directly to the metro station.

On June 8, 2017, the first German branch of Saks Off 5th opened in the soilless section. The chain promises high quality branded clothing, accessories and gift items at a discounted price.

In addition to Galeria Benko already belongs to Karstadt. The other consequences of the merger are still unclear. It is also uncertain that the Group deals with the two houses directly adjacent to the Wehrhahn.